Chapter 3

Samira

The driver went as fast as the speed limit allowed, but If I wouldn’t have stalled, the only representative of the Unicorn Court would Already be at the grand palace of the new wolf king…

King Tyson… the grandson of the Adversary ruled the wolves now…. I was no match for any of that. Unlike my siblings, even my twin Tamira… I was Weak.… Though the King was a prodigy.

Unlike the other kings who slept and passed their kingship to a relative… King Tyson actually defeated his grandfather, something that Had Not Been Done… No king had ever been toppled by their own kind… They were just too old and stronger than us because of it, yet Tyson was only the same age as me…

“We’re here my lady. Once I go down this road, I’ll drop you off and await your return.” Said the driver.

“…Go a little slower.” I said looking at my hands.

I could see his smile in the mirror. “Of course your highness.”

Why did I hesitate….? I’d amped myself up that I might have fun, but now that it was Actually happening, all I could think about was the king. I could see the castle.

It’s beautiful landscape of pine lined road, ending in a U accented a brick castle with at least 500 rooms… It didn’t look welcoming to me. I could see how they put black and gold streamers on the building, as well as the bushes, but I wondered would I mess this up.

I was the only Unicorn Delegate coming… The driver would be the last unicorn I would see, as even the council member’s single daughters didn’t want to go. King Tyson was the only single king; most would jump on that, mate or not…

But as a grandchild of the Adversary, I bet his temper was unmatched.

I heard he could breathe hell fire… That’s what Tamira told me. She probably said that to scare a shamefully startled mare! Why is she like that? I tried pondering if she was serious or not…

We were identical in all but attitude, and size, being a little taller because of her impressive form…. At 23 hands, she was actually taller than the average male, about 18 hands. She was outgoing, while I was shy…. She leapt at the notion of marriage, and snagged the stallion that sits at my brother’s right, Lord Frostmane the Snowy One, Second Seat on the Unicorn Council…. My other sisters were also married to councilmen, though those siblings are much older…

I was offered to marry my choice of stallion, but I didn’t want them… I didn’t want to be tied to an obligation like that. Now I fidgeted with my dress.

The train of my gown hid my uncomfortable heels… I hope I don’t trip or something when I rush to the ballroom….

I silently wished though that something would happen to prevent the aftermath of the party too…

I silently prayed that the man in my dreams was real, whoever he was… even if he’s a demon…

This was to show me off… This was a twenty-thousand-dollar dress that originally belonged to mother. She was tall, about 6’9, so it was altered.

I knew Allister planned on marrying me to Redmane, but this was also a way to add to the pool of potential bachelors. In case someone else was better…

I knew he meant well, but he was at least 10 times older than me. His mindset was to secure a place for me, but he never stopped to ask what I wanted…

I again wished that I had a mate.

The love bond soulmates share is unbreakable… If I was ever blessed enough, even if it was someone as terrifying as a demigod of hell… even if it made me a bicorn, I would take it. It’s so rare…. It’s so precious… Werewolves are so lucky that they just find the perfect person… Having someone made to be with you…. It sounds so poetic…

But Only those made by the Moon Goddess get mates… So I was only daydreaming….

There are some RARE exceptions, but it’s usually through extreme acts of love, that it sways the Moon Goddess Lulliba enough to do so….

I wrapped my long braid into a large ball. It would have to do. That thought was a wishful dream I shouldn’t be asking for… It’d be just my luck if I get one, and he’s Jack the Slasher or something.

Gods we were late…

He’d already be crowned by now…

“My lady.” Bowed the driver.

I got out the car.

I almost glowed in the moonlight I was so pale... The blue eye liner also complimented my violet eyes… I prayed to the Lord of Light, that he shines on me this evening…

The driver silently helped me, and gave my last bag to a werewolf servant, the one that held my ID and paperwork.

I saw, but didn’t speak with the elf delegate, Ahgillia. She was a pureblooded high elf. I was surprised she kneeled to my brother Nanatori, yet alone wolves with how I’d seen her speak and act toward shifters….

“My lady.” Bowed my driver, and I dismissed him….

The castle was huge, being at least 600 rooms large, with even a gladiator arena somewhere inside as well. The King had many floors, being about 5 or 6 stories tall. I heard they were going to renovate it, though if they had already, I didn’t know… The grand mansion was rectangular, with grounds cut perfectly to be pleasing. Statues of all the first kings littered the outside, as well as the inside of the castle.

Their royal colors, black and gold, littered the walls with ornately carved wood and gilded crown molding. The black marble floors were covered with black and gold Persian runner rugs. They lined every floor, and it was so busy. I didn’t think anyone noticed me coming in, as every person I’d never met rushed to either get things ready if they were servants, or went to the ballroom for the reception…

“Announcing the 7th born, Princess Samira, born of Queen Skylia of the Unicorns, and King Sagrinal of the Elves.” Yelled the Omega man, handing my paperwork to a guard. He stood at the door, and bowed to me when I walked past… The grand lobby was enormous… I didn’t know which direction to go, and I didn’t want to ask.

All the servants here were Omegas, meaning they couldn’t shift into werewolves… It was a show of power. It told the supernatural world that the King of the Wolves needed no protection, that the guards were here only placed along the walls of the palace for order…

Why did my brother do this? As Standing King of the Unicorns, I cannot deny his order… I was here to be a diplomat…

I couldn’t think straight. The scent of this place made me uneasy…

I could smell so much meat… Every kind, from bovine to human…. I didn’t know they ate people…Well I knew they did, but I’d never seen it… How cruel...

I shouldn’t judge…

That isn’t right either. Some, like werewolves, are cursed with the Crave, that once they eat man’s meat… they can never stop. Other creatures don’t have the ability to have anything else, thus, it was likely there to accommodate ghouls, zombies, and vampires too.

I heard their Queen Lucia was coming as well. She was a vampyr, a kind of living, breathing vampire bat.… Vampire King Victor, I wouldn’t know… I was in the royal family, but I honestly wasn’t all that royal…

“Excuse me!” I bumped into a 7ft tall Grecian man who smelled of minotaur…. I didn’t know if his eyes were reddish-brown because he was offended, or if that was the way they were.

“Take your time.” He said with a comically small glass of elvish wine in his hand…. That was King Jerold, the Battle Bull… It was said he could rip people apart with his bare hands, and his true form is 13 feet tall…

…. I ran-walked away.

The sight of so many actually important dignitaries made my head spin. They chatted, ignoring me thankfully, but they were also headed to the ballroom…

I saw the Vampire King walk through a wall… His Queen scolded him for using magic in someone else’s house and there were chuckles, but his glance my direction gave me a shiver… They can only drink blood, and of all the blood out there, my people’s are more coveted than human….

I actually shimmied past the Prime Minister of the Kingdoms United, who spoke with another human representative. They paid me no mind. I wasn’t one who could do anything for them. Humans were to be kept ignorant, though major dignitaries and leaders of their respective countries know of us.

It’s more of a safety for them than anything… The Realm King’s man farms supplement the now illegal hunting. Even the Vampire King can’t just go into a town and collect ‘free’ men. To do so would get the attention of the Realm King, the man who forced me to attend… the man I’d had as of yet to actually see, and hoped I wouldn’t.

What would I even say to someone like that? He’s literally my brother’s boss, and my brother unless I leave the kingdom is mine… Though unlike the human world, the displeasure of a king often has death follow it…. We don’t get fired… That isn’t something ‘The King of All’ would do.

The word ‘mate’ popped up in my head…. And the urge to specifically look for the dream man….

I guess it was still on my mind, since now that was all I could think about.

Traditionally, should this actually happen, I would be marked and mated by the King, and move out that same night…

But I wasn’t stupid either… If it keeps coming up, and I keep having this urge to walk around rather than attend… maybe… maybe I do have a mate?